Get your Bluetooth kits ready. A bill has been introduced in the U.S. Congress that would ban all handheld cellphone use while driving and Ford is the first auto maker to support it.
The bill was introduced last month by Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy of NY called The Safe Drivers Act of 2011. It would ban use of a handheld movable device on a public road while the car is moving, with the exception of emergency calls.
The bill would not ban voice activated devices or hands free devices or voice activated GPS.
It would also require the DOT to launch a study on distracted driving and propose any policy changes based on its findings.
To encourage individual states to follow the law, the bill would hold back 25 percent of a state’s highway transportation funds if it doesn’t comply within two years.
Currently handsfree laws are determined by the states, each with different policies. At least 8 states plus the District of Columbia have laws regulating phone use.
For its part, Ford said the bill “represents a practical, commonsense approach to a national problem,” according to Pete Lawson, Ford VP of government affairs, said The Detroit Free Press.
You can read the bill here.
I’m all for a national law regarding cell phone use in cars but I can tell you a big part of the problem for people isn’t that they don’t want to go hands free in their cars, the problem is they don’t want to pay to do it. So many people have used a cheap blue tooth visor mount or ear piece and hate them and have a hard time justifying spending hundreds of dollars on a device for their car that could perform like those. I hear this on a regular basis. If congress really want to make this work, I would suggest some kind of tax incentive. Make a professionally installed device tax deductable could be one way.
It’s about time that a universal bill be passed. There is too much grey area on what is enforced and what is not. I also see so many drivers using their phones while driving irresponsibly daily and end up in accidents. People just can’t seem to put the phone down while driving. I have been using bluetooth kits for years and am a true believer in safe driving.